dire conjugation

Dire Conjugation in Italian, Definition and Usage Examples

Italian Verbs /

Dire Definition: 

  • To say

Dire Can Also Mean

  • To tell
  • To mean
  • To admit
  • To recite

Dire is an important Italian -ire verb to learn and master. You’ll be using this word a lot in day-to-day conversations, and knowing how to conjugate this word will help you convey the information properly.

Note: Dire is an irregular verb, so you’ll need to memorize the conjugation.

Italian Dire Conjugation

Dire Presente Conjugation:

ItalianEnglish
ioDicoI say
tuDiciYou say
lui/leiDiceHe/she/it/formal says
noiDiciamoWe say
voiDiteYou all say
loroDiconoThey say

Dire Presente Examples

The Presente tense can be used to talk about something someone had just said in a conversation or to say that you’re about to tell someone something. You can also use presente to talk about hypothetical things using diciamo (let’s say). 

  1. Che dice? = What did/does he say?
  2. Lo dico a Rosa = I will tell Rosa
  3. Diciamo che … = Let’s say that

Dire Passato Prossimo Conjugation

ItalianEnglish
ioHo dettoI said
tuHai dettoYou said
lui/leiHa dettoHe/she/it/formal said
noiAbbiamo dettoWe said
voiAvete dettoYou all said
loroHanno dettoThey said

Dire Passato Prossimo Examples

  1. Mi hai detto che sei arrivato, ma dove sei? = You said you arrived, but where are you? 
  2. Hanno detto che il film era brutto. = They told me that the film was bad.
  3. Non ho detto niente di speciale = I didn’t say anything in particular

Dire Futuro Semplice Conjugation:

ItalianEnglish
ioDiròI will say
tuDiraiYou will say
lui/leiDiràHe/she/it/formal will say
noiDiremoWe will say
voiDireteYou all will say
loroDirannoThey will say

Dire Futuro Semplice Examples

  1. Stasera ci diranno i risultati = They will tell us the results tonight
  2. Darai la tua opinione = You will give your opinion 
  3. E dirà quello che vuole = And she will say what she wants

Dire Imperfetto Conjugation:

ItalianEnglish
ioDicevoI was saying
tuDiceviYou were saying
lui/leiDicevaHe/she/it/formal was saying
noiDicevamoWe were saying
voiDicevateYou all were saying
loroDicevanoThey were saying

Dire Imperfetto Examples

The imperfetto tense can be used to talk about things you had always done in the past or to refer to something you were just talking about before being interrupted.

  1. Le dicevamo sempre di stare attenta = We always told her to be careful
  2. È quello che dicevano i miei fratelli = It’s what my brothers told me
  3. Dunque, dicevo? Ah sì, il progetto… = So, what was I saying? Ah yes, the project…
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